Journal

This week something amazing happened at work. Actually something horrible happened but it precipitated a chain of events that made me think of 80’s TV, how far technology has come and how we do in fact live in a world where life imitates art.

One of the programmers at ConsultR lost his cellphone this week. Losing a cellphone is a “traumatic event” in this day and age. We rely on our cellphones, perhaps excessively, because it’s not just a cellphone it’s a mini computer we carry around with us that lets us do all sorts of things. I felt a little panicked for my friend, let’s call him “Freddy”, as I imagined how I would cope without my cellphone, but he didn’t even seem phased.

The following day he showed up with a raggedy old iPod touch. We all laughed at the state of it and how small it seemed to be. I felt like I was looking at a relic or something he pulled from a time capsule. All of a sudden the iPod touch started ringing, just like a regular iPhone would. I looked at Freddy and he smiled. I’m not a programmer but I’m pretty tech savvy, nonetheless in the world of technology there is always room to grow and knowing the right people is key.

So what does all this have to do with 80’s TV you might be wondering? Well… Having grown up in the 80’s Freddy’s ingenious plan to turn an old iPod into a working cellphone made me think of none other than MacGyver, that wonderful TV character that took ordinary objects and did incredible things with them. He spoiled the evil general’s missile launch, he dismantled bombs and got out of crazy situations using only his whit. Imagine what we could have all learned if we got the chance to hang out with MacGyver?

Thanks to technology and the right connections (i.e a techie friend) we can all play around like MacGyver used to. We may not end up saving the world but we sure will have fun trying!

Do you think Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates could dismantle a bomb using just a motherboard? Could you? Could Freddy? I’m not sure, but it’s fun to imagine they could.

One last thing, if you are lucky enough to meet “Freddy” one day, don’t tell him he is the MacGyver of the 21st century… I wouldn’t won’t the sudden fame to go to his head!